Boost Penalty For Fatal Accidents

April 2, 1998

In the past, Florida law has been way too lenient with operators of boats and cars whose reckless driving kills someone. Fortunately, state lawmakers are considering toughening the penalties for such offenders.

State Sen. Skip Campbell is right. It is crazy for state law to treat people whose recklessness causes fatal accidents the same as those convicted of far less serious crimes, like petty theft, dealing in stolen property or bookmaking.

Campbell, D-Tamarac, has filed a good bill (SB 948) to boost penalties for vehicle or vessel homicide from a third-degree felony, carrying only a five-year prison term, to a second-degree felony, punishable by up to 15 years in prison.

The bill would also boost the penalty for a reckless driver or boater who leaves the scene of a fatal accident without offering assistance or providing information from a second- to a first-degree felony, punishable by up to 30 years in prison.

Broward County State Attorney Michael Satz was right to ask Campbell to file the bill. Satz was motivated because he is prosecuting Stanley Cameron, accused of killng six people on Nov. 24 in a horrific boat crash on the Intracoastal Waterway in Fort Lauderdale. No change in the law could influence the Cameron case.

After passing the Senate Criminal Justice Committee, the bill should be approved by the Ways and Means Committee. To win passage, a companion bill must be introduced in the House, and Satz needs to get a House sponsor.

As with all such laws, the purpose is not only to punish the guilty but to provide a strong incentive for all drivers and boaters to avoid recklessness and behave in a law-abiding way, thus reducing accidents, injuries and deaths.